Winter Contact Sports to Resume in Full
February 4, 2021
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Per an announcement today by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), Michigan High School Athletic Association member schools may begin full practice activities in the Winter contact sports of girls and boys basketball, competitive cheer, ice hockey and wrestling on Monday, Feb. 8, with some precautions to continue limiting the spread of COVID-19.
Competition in those four sports also will begin next week, with basketball and hockey able to play Feb. 8 and cheer and wrestling able to compete starting Feb. 12.
Those four Winter contact sports have been able to practice since Jan. 16, but only with non-contact activities. MHSAA Tournament dates for all four sports previously were rescheduled into late March and early April to accommodate a later start to the regular season, and those dates appear below. All four Winter contact sports also must participate with some level of masking and/or rapid testing, also detailed sport-by-sport below.
All testing will be coordinated between schools and MDHHS or their local health departments. Following are specific precautions and key dates for those contact sports at the high school level. Participants are defined as athletes, coaches and other team personnel active in practice and competition. For the sports detailed below, regular-season contests may be played up until the date of the MHSAA Finals in that sport.
Girls Basketball
Masking/testing: All participants must wear face coverings at all times – during all practices and non-game activities, and during games. A testing requirement may allow participants to remove masks while in active participation on the floor if they test negative that game day; more details will be provided to schools when confirmed.
Competition limit: Teams may play up to three games per week, Monday through Sunday.
First contest: Feb. 8
Districts: March 22, 24, 26
Regionals: March 29, 31
Quarterfinals: April 5
Semifinals: April 7
Finals: April 9
Boys Basketball
Masking/testing: All participants must wear face coverings at all times – during all practices and non-game activities, and during games. A testing requirement may allow participants to remove masks while in active participation on the floor if they test negative that game day; more details will be provided to schools when confirmed.
Competition limit: Teams may play up to three games per week, Monday through Sunday.
First contest: Feb. 8
Districts: March 23, 25, 27
Regionals: March 30, April 1
Quarterfinals: April 6
Semifinals: April 8
Finals: April 10
Competitive Cheer
Masking/testing: Teams may compete without testing or face coverings, but must wear masks at all times outside of active competition or stunting/tumbling practice.
Competition limit: Teams may participate in 12 days of competition, not counting MHSAA Tournament events.
First contest: Feb. 12
Districts: March 17-20
Regionals: March 23-24
Finals: March 26-27
Ice Hockey
Masking/testing: All participants must wear face coverings at all times – during all practices and non-game activities, and during games. A testing requirement may allow participants to remove masks while in active participation on the ice if they test negative that game day; more details will be provided to schools when confirmed.
Competition limit: Teams may play up to three games per week, Monday through Sunday. Teams also may play two games on one non-school day twice; during those two weeks, teams are allowed up to four games Monday through Sunday.
First contest: Feb. 8
Regionals: March 15-20
Quarterfinals: March 23-24
Semifinals: March 25-26
Finals: March 27
Wrestling
Masking/testing: Testing is required for wrestling, but competitors will not be required to wear face coverings.
Competition limit: Teams may compete two days per week, Monday through Sunday, with no more than four teams at a site (with each individual competing in up to three matches per day.)
First contest: Feb. 12
Team Districts: March 17-18
Individual Districts: March 20
Team Regionals: March 24
Individual Regionals: March 27
Team Finals: March 30
Individual Finals: April 2-3
The same masking and testing requirements will be in place for all junior high/middle school teams wishing to participate in the four Winter contact sports.
MHSAA, NFHS Learning Center Team Up to Provide Online Student Leadership Series
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 10, 2023
Leadership always has been one of the most valuable and applicable life skills developed by student-athletes participating in educational athletics. To assist in that development, the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) and National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) have partnered to produce an online Student Leadership series designed to provide the latest research-based instruction to high schoolers throughout the United States.
The Student Leadership series is provided as part of the web-based NFHS Learning Center and includes two free courses focused on students – “Becoming a Leader” and “Leading Others” – with a third installment for coaches currently in production. All three are inspired by the latest research on how youth-aged athletes learn to lead.
This latest work builds on the MHSAA-produced “Captains Course” developed in 2015 with Michigan State University’s Institute for the Study of Youth Sports (ISYS). The “Captains Course” has been taken more than 100,000 times and is based on in-person “Captains Clinics” that MHSAA staff and ISYS conduct with thousands of students across Michigan each year.
Each student-focused segment of the new Student Leadership series takes 30-45 minutes to complete and includes frequent and quick activities designed to help students understand how they would apply leadership skills in real-life scenarios. Course instruction was created primarily in coordination with the MHSAA by a pair of nationally-recognized authorities on the subject: Jed Blanton, an assistant professor in kinesiology, recreation and sport studies at the University of Tennessee; and Scott Pierce, an associate professor in kinesiology and recreation at Illinois State University.
Both Blanton and Pierce have vast experience with youth athletics; both also formerly worked for the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports and served as graduate assistants at the MHSAA during their time at MSU, playing large roles in more than a decade of research conducted through coordination with the MHSAA’s 16-member Student Advisory Council. High school administrators, student leaders, and other researchers and mental performance consultants also contributed to the lessons taught in these courses. The NFHS produced the content, including all of the visuals and digital features, and the student-focused courses went live on the NFHS Learn website in mid-summer.
“We’ve taken a good program, and made it even better,” said MHSAA Assistant Director Andy Frushour, who coordinates the Association’s student services programs. “This is a program we do in person in Michigan, but our reach now is across the country – and these courses are free, hopefully allowing us to contribute to the development of even more student leaders.”
The “Becoming a Leader” course defines leadership styles and builds skills to help students consider themselves as leaders. “Leading Others” details how leaders put those skills into practice including during challenging situations. Blanton and Pierce worked closely with student advisory groups from various states to make the research content relatable to school sports participants. All voices heard in the courses belong to high school students – including athletes from Michigan, Illinois and Washington who provided 30 testimonials that describe leadership in action.
The “Coaches Course” will provide the same information as presented to high school students, but in a way that explains how coaches can use these tools to personalize leadership training among their athletes as they seek to recognize which types of leaders they have on a team, and which types are missing and need to be developed.
“The NFHS is grateful for the opportunity to work with the MHSAA as well as Dr. Blanton and Dr. Pierce,” said Dan Schuster, the NFHS’ director of educational services. “We believe these student leadership courses will provide valuable information across the country and will contribute to the improvement of the interscholastic experience for young people.”
Video previews provide additional information on both Student Leadership courses.Click for direct links to “Becoming a Leader" and “Leading Others.”